Daily industrial news and top headlines for plant and maintenance managers

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese protectionism has increased since the 2008 global crisis and U.S. companies are being hurt by Beijing's policies aimed at developing its technology industries, a business group said Tuesday.
A report by the American Chamber of Commerce in China adds to mounting complaints that Beijing is violating the spirit of its free-trade pledges by limiting market access and trying to shield its fledgling technology industries from competition.

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Spyker Cars says conditions proposed by the European Investment Bank are stalling plans to secure financing for troubled automaker Saab.
Spyker says it will meet EIB officials later Tuesday but is also considering other financial options with partners, including Chinese car manufacturers.

CRANBERRY, Pa. (AP) — A company that makes windows and doors plans to hire 280 full-time and seasonal workers at its plant near Pittsburgh.
Alcoa Inc. bought the window company, Traco Inc., in August. And now an Alcoa spokesman tells the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review the aluminum giant plans to add workers at Traco's plant in Cranberry, about 20 miles north of Pittsburgh.

DETROIT (AP) — The Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf got top safety ratings in some of the first-ever tests of electric cars by an insurer-funded research group.
Both cars earned top scores for front, side and rear-impact crashes and for rollover crash protection, according to results released Tuesday by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Investigators trying to determine why the roof of a Southwest Airlines jet cracked open in flight have issued preliminary findings suggesting there may have been flaws in the riveting work when Boeing built the plane 15 years ago.
The National Transportation Safety Board said Monday that some of the rivets used to bind the Boeing 737's aluminum panels together were sunk in holes larger than the rivet shafts.

DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — Ford posted its best first-quarter profit in 13 years, as its new, more fuel-efficient vehicles reached showrooms during a surge in gasoline prices.
New arrivals such as the Ford Explorer and Fiesta small car are selling well. Company profits are growing around the world.

As energy costs continue to climb, manufacturers are searching for ways to reduce their energy usage to both save money and reduce their environmental impact. Food Manufacturing spoke with Richard Travers of Freeaire Corporation about how manufacturers can utilize “greener” processes and renewable resources.

What we are trying to do with Makible is pretty different from how products are currently brought to the market. Two key points is that the initial volume for production is quite low — within 500 to 1,000 units of an item — and the other is the speed to market, which we are working on one to two months to start with.

Investigators trying to determine why the roof of a Southwest Airlines jet peeled open in flight this month are focusing on the manufacturing process at Boeing.
Government and industry officials say investigators noticed that the stricken jet and five other Southwest planes that had cracks in their metal skins were all built at about the same time in the same Boeing plant.

DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — Ford Motor Co. says it has idled three overseas factories to conserve auto parts following last month's earthquake in Japan.
Assembly plants in Pretoria, South Africa, and Nanjing, China, will be down this week. Spokesman Todd Nissen says the factories had been scheduled to shut down for a week later this year, but the downtime was pulled ahead.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Lying on his family room floor with assault weapons trained on him, shouts of "pedophile!" and "pornographer!" stinging like his fresh cuts and bruises, the Buffalo homeowner didn't need long to figure out the reason for the early morning wake-up call from a swarm of federal agents.

The Everest E200 rugged industrial computer, from Glacier Computer (New Milford, CT), can now provide an optional Windows CE Thin Client, which is a minimal version that can support a Remote Desktop device. The E2000 will also run the full version of Windows CE 6.0. The E2000 is engineered to withstand extremes of vibration, shock, and moisture while providing users easy access to critical information with the capability to be mounted on vehicles or fixed structures.

Grundfos Pumps (Olathe, KS) has released the CR(N)-H and CRNE-H stainless steel horizontal end suction pumps, which were designed to be used in a variety of applications, including washing and cleaning, paper industries, and more. According to the company, the CR(N)-H can bolt directly to the piping and pump case footprint of a traditional ANSI pump.

Cincinnati Incorporated (Cincinnati, OH) has expanded its laser cutting product line with the CL-900 series fiber laser cutting system, which combines a low operating cost with high-performance 12,000 ipm linear-motor axis drives. The CL-900 cuts mild steel two to three times faster than conventional lasers, while reducing operating costs by up to 40 percent.

General Machine Products Company, Inc. (GMP; Trevose, PA) has added new cable lashers to its line of aerial utility tools and equipment. The Apollo Lasher, the C2 Lasher, the J2 Lasher, and the G Lasher are designed for the placement of new cables and lashing previously-installed cables. Each come with dual wire magazines for housing stainless steel lashing wire, a 6’ towing bridle, and a storage chest.

RACINE, Wis. (AP) — An Australian company that makes containers for needles and medical waste is opening a processing plant in Racine County.
Daniels Sharpsmart has leased a 22,000 square-foot building in Yorkville. The company will install a sterilization system controlled by robots that alone will cost $1.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — If you're worried about privacy, you can turn off the function on your smartphone that tracks where you go. But that means giving up the services that probably made you want a smartphone in the first place. After all, how smart is an iPhone or an Android if you can't use it to map your car trip or scan reviews of nearby restaurants?
The debate over digital privacy flamed higher this week with news that Apple Inc.

For the first part of Perry's analysis, go here .
Reason #5: The Brain Drain
Many people in this country complain that the Chinese are sending their best and their brightest over here for their schooling, and that those kids then return home with the knowledge they’ve acquired in the U.

General Atomics has been testing a new railgun that can hurl "hypersonic bricks" at Mach 5 (roughly 3,800mph). Their new projectile, outfitted with a sabot , can travel 4.34 miles downrange — with the gun pointed completely parallel with the ground — even after punching through a steel plate.